In theory, this is a great trade for the Chicago Bulls to be able to offload the contracts of point guard Kris Dunn and the inept big man Cristiano Felicio in return for Andre Iguodala and De’Anthony Melton. The Grizzlies did just land Melton in a trade with the Phoenix Suns, but giving him up could free up more roster space for future moves.
The Bulls re-signed Ryan Arcidiacono to a 3-year deal Tuesday, further complicating the point guard picture for Kris Dunn.
— Chicago Tribune Sports (@ChicagoSports) July 2, 2019
They also signed Adam Mokoka, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from France, to a two-way contract. https://t.co/GgHTJtjfrP via @KCJHoop pic.twitter.com/QYp7nt76OF
The Grizzlies would also be offloading a contract by sending Melton to the Bulls, but his money won’t take up too much room on the cap sheet. Melton is also worth keeping around for the Bulls as a young wing that could make headway as a role player off the bench in the NBA.
There are a lot of moving parts surrounding the trade situation with Dunn and the Bulls since he is now in a group with Ryan Arcidiacono, Tomas Satoransky (after a sign-and-trade deal with the Washington Wizards), and White. Dunn could be on the move soon, and he would be a nice situational fit alongside Ja in Memphis.
The motivation for the Grizzlies to get involved in this trade deal with the Bulls, and mainly taking on the daunting $8 million base salary of Felicio, is getting shooting guard Denzel Valentine and a future second round pick. Stacking assets and building the backcourt rotation are both positive takeaways here for Memphis.